A Corentyne salesman was shot in his abdomen yesterday afternoon after bandits attempted to rob his truck outside of the Sunshine Supermarket, located along the Chesney Public Road, Corentyne.
A second salesman was grazed on his face by a bullet fired by one of the two bandits who carried out the attack. Only one of the men was armed with a gun, while the other was armed with a knife.
The salesmen, who operate a truck which transports groceries from the supermarket to customers throughout the Corentyne area, arrived and parked outside of the supermarket just around 4 pm.
About 15 minutes after, four salesmen, two attached to the truck and two to the supermarket, were outside packing goods when the two bandits pounced on them.
One of the salesmen, Ravindra Hardyal, also known as ‘Anil,’ of Fyrish Village, Corentyne, said, “I go out to see what else they got to collect in the truck and as we deh talk talk, one guy [bandit] run through back of the truck and [grab] the one guy and another one (bandit) come behind me and [grab] me.”
He explained that he pushed the bandit and ran away but “he [bandit] open he bag and take out one knife and run behind me and me run back of this truck here and collect one piece of wood and fight he off and me run through here”.
After the other workers began to fight back as well, the bandits were forced to try to make an escape. “The motorbike been park up here and this one collect the bike and the one with the gun jump on a back and then he fire two shots and one miss me and the other graze me on my face,” Hardyal recounted.
However, salesman Lochan Matadeen, of Number 63 Village, Corentyne, was not as lucky as he was shot in his abdomen.
He was rushed to the Anamayah Memorial Hospital, where his condition was listed as serious as of last evening.
“It look like them come rob the truck because this truck does carry goods for people,” Hardyal suggested.
Eyewitnesses said, the bandits escaped on their motorcycle towards the New Amsterdam route.
Up to last evening, police had launched an investigation but no arrest had been made.
